U.S. equities closed mixed on Friday, but managed another record close, while investors kept an eye on France's presidential election.

"Investors right now continue to shrug off almost all bearish news and continue buying stocks," said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments. "Pullbacks now last hours; not days."

"Right now, we're in a state of unadulterated buying in the market," he said.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed just above breakeven, with UnitedHealth contributing the most losses and Boeing the most gains.

The S&P 500 closed 0.1 percent higher, with telecommunications outperforming. The telecommunications sector, which had been one of the worst performers for most of Friday's session, erased losses in afternoon trade. Reuters reported that Japan's SoftBank Group is prepared to give up control of Sprint to T-Mobile to clinch a merger of the two U.S. wireless carriers.

The Nasdaq composite outperformed, gaining 0.4 percent as the tech sector posted a 13-day winning streak. The indexes also posted weekly gains of more than 1 percent.

"It's not a surprise to see the market pause here," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. "The question is whether this is the beginning of a pullback or just a pause."

The three major indexes had posted record closing highs five straight sessions before closing mixed Thursday. Lifting stocks were the prospects of President Donald Trump presenting a "phenomenal" tax plan soon, as well as solid economic data.

"If he doesn't straighten it out in the next, I would say, 30 days, people will just stop listening to him," said Maris Ogg, president at Tower Bridge Advisors.

Data released Thursday pointed to improving economic conditions in the U.S., with the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index hitting its highest level since 1984, while weekly jobless claims remained around their lowest levels in decades.

The only major economic data released Friday are leading indicators, which rose 0.6 percent in January.

"When you look at the underlying fundamentals, they're quite good. The big question on the horizon is Marine Le Pen," said Tower Bridge's Ogg. "If she wins, we're going to have a recession."

According to recent polls, Le Pen — France's far-right, anti-European Union candidate — is the favorite to win the first round of voting, scheduled for April. However, it is not clear whether she will win the run-off vote in May.

However, "that simultaneously increases the chances for Le Pen to win because center-right voters might be more inclined to vote for her or not turn out," said Luke Bartholomew, investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

High-frequency trading accounted for 52 percent of February's daily trading volume of about 6.81 billion shares, according to TABB Group. During the peak levels of high-frequency trading in 2009, about 61 percent of 9.8 billion of average daily shares traded were executed by high-frequency traders.